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AS Roma, Inter Milan reach final

AS Roma's Mancini of Brazil, left, celebrates with teammates Daniele De Rossi, center at top, Valerio Virga, right foreground, and Antonio Cassano, right partially visible, after scoring during the Italian Cup semifinal, second-leg match between Udinese and Roma at the Friuli stadium in Udine, Italy on Wednesday. Roma won the match 2-1. PHOTO: AP

AS Roma reached the Italian Cup finals for the second time in three years Thursday, beating Udinese 2-1 in their second-leg semifinal, advancing to face Inter Milan for the title.

Francesco Totti converted a blocked penalty late at Friuli stadium to stun favorite Udinese and give Roma the two-leg series on 3-2 aggregate, earning a chance at an eighth Italian Cup.

Inter, which beat Cagliari 4-2 on aggregate in its semifinal, will play Roma on June 12 and 15.

Roma, which lost to AC Milan in the 2003 finals, has won the second-most Italian Cup titles, behind only Juventus' nine, but has not won since 1991. Inter has won the crown three times, the last in 1982.

Brazilian forward Mancini headed in Roma's opening goal in the 21st minute off a long cross by Leandro Cufre, who was jeered throughout the match by Udinese fans for a tackle during the first leg in Rome which seriously injured the ankle of Czech midfielder Marek Jankulovski.

Antonio Di Natale equalized for Udinese with a low diagonal shot in the 57th.

Totti, playing in the Italian Cup while serving a five-match suspension from Serie A action, scored the decisive goal in the 80th after Mancini was fouled by goalkeeper Samir Hadanovic deep in the area.

Hadanovic deflected Totti's shot from the penalty spot but the Roma captain tapped in the rebound to send the club to the finals for the 12th time.

The victory earned a UEFA Cup berth for Roma, regardless of the result in the finals. Inter already has qualified for the preliminary rounds of next season's European Champions League.

Earlier, Roma's goalkeeper Gianluca Curci made a series of decisive saves while Antonio Cassano squandered a scoring chance for the Roman side in the 61st.

Udinese playmaker Marcelo Pizarro was ejected in injury time for his reaction to a foul by Vincenzo Montella.

It was Roma's first win in 11 matches since Bruno Conti took over as coach.

"We beat a great team," Conti said. "This win should boost the team confidence in this difficult moment."

Roma is struggling three points clear of relegation in the Serie A and plays a decisive match against last-place Atalanta on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid fans interrupted a training session Thursday, invading the field to protest at the team's poor form.

Twenty members of the radical "Frente Atletico" group shouted insults at players and team officials for several minutes, sports daily Marca said on its Web site.

Goalkeeper Leo Franco and goalkeeping coach Miguel Baston responded in angry exchanges with the supporters.

Goalkeeper Leo Franco and goalkeeping coach Miguel Baston responded in angry exchanges with the supporters.

Atletico said late Thursday in a statement: "In the club we are aware of the ill feeling that is caused when results are not what is desired but, not even in this case, can such attitudes against players, officials or installations be tolerated or accepted."

Atletico coach Cesar Ferrando took a more conciliatory tone.

"We live in a democracy and everyone is free to express their opinion," he said. "No one likes it when someone comes into their house and they insult you.

"I understand that people are angry and that they want to show it."

Atletico has missed out on a European place after gaining only two points from its last six league games. The team was eliminated from the Copa del Rey semifinals last week by Osasuna.

Supporters have demanded the removal of Ferrando and club president Enrique Cerezo.

Ferrando's contract was extended for a season last November but Cerezo acknowledged last Tuesday that the decision was a mistake.

old FA Cup sold

The oldest existing FA Cup was sold at auction Thursday for ?478,000 (US$879,400; 695,600 euros), a record price for a piece of soccer memorabilia.

Made in 1896 as a replacement for the stolen original, the silver cup was bought by an unidentified telephone bidder in the auction at Christie's in central London.

The price topped the previous record set in 1997 when a copy of the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy went for ?254,500 (370,000 euros).

Christie's had projected the FA Cup would sell for between ?200,000 and ?300,000 (285,000-425,000 euros).

David Convery, head of Christie's sports memorabilia department, said the buyer asked to remain anonymous.

"Football sales started in 1989 and this is by and large the most impressive result," he said. "It illustrates the growing strength of the sporting memorabilia market. I was incredibly pleased to be able to offer for sale football's greatest prize."

Four different FA Cup trophies have been used over the competition's 133-year history.

The first FA Cup competition took place in 1872, but the original trophy was stolen in 1895 from a shop window in Birmingham. It was never recovered.

The second trophy -- the one sold Thursday -- was awarded to the winning team between 1896-1910.

It was retired in 1911 and presented to Lord Kinnaird, the president of the English Football Association. It had had remained in his family since then.

A newly designed third trophy was introduced in the 1910-11 season and was in use until the 1990-1991 final. The fourth and current trophy, a replica of the third, will be presented to the winning team after Saturday's final between Arsenal and Manchester United in Cardiff, Wales.

Also sold at auction Thursday were former England international Alan Ball's medal and cap from the 1966 World Cup. England beat West Germany 4-2 in the final at Wembley.

Ball's winner's medal went for ?164,800 (239,357 euros) and cap for ?43,200 (62,744 euros), record prices for each category.

Christie's said the items were sold to the same anonymous bidder who bought the FA Cup trophy.
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